Every Marriage is a Mirage
by Arista Ramabra
Summary: Lily and James have put new words to the old rhyme for it now goes: First comes marriage, then comes... love? One condition. One chance. One year. Two very stubborn people. Watch them mess it up over and over again.
1. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 1: Almost a Year

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize. The plot belongs to a movie I saw… well… I saw the beginning and end but not the middle so I'm making up my own middle- the idea goes to the movie though. The title belongs to a playwright who wrote a play for my mom who has a theatre group in the states. And any characters that you recognize belong to the one and only Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

* * *

**A/N**: Enjoy!

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Chapter 1- **Almost a Year

James stood silently at his window, thinking about the past year of his life. He ran a hand through his ever-messy black hair, his eyes traveling up to the skies, pausing at the stars.

"So like her," he thought. "So bright and fiery." Had it almost been a year? Almost a _whole _year? A year ago that he'd made the deal. A year ago that their lives had merged. He loved her- that much he knew. He also knew that he _really _wanted to stay with her… he still was finding it hard to convince himself he'd be completely happy living with one woman. After all he'd had to change his thinking from 21 years in one year.

He didn't know what exactly it was but something about her drew him to her. To be very honest she was pretty… but not any beauty, she was smart… but not a genius, caring and loving, trusting people until they gave her a reason not to. She had a combustible personality… a bit of a red-headed temper. She stood up for what she believed in and never let anyone walk over her- something that James learned very quickly into their relationship. She was nothing special really but somehow he'd grown to like her and married life no matter how much he'd denied he'd like it to his father.

James on the other hand was drop-dead GORGEOUS, practically a genius, had almost no temper (almost) and while he was very caring towards his friends he seemed a bit heartless- especially towards women. _She _had taught his to respect women and love them for their faults and weaknesses as well as their perfections. He had never believed the saying "opposites attract" until he'd met her, married her, and later fell in love with her.

At first he'd shuddered at the very mention of the word "marriage" refusing to even think of it in other terms than "taking the fun out of life." But after marrying her he'd found that even married life had its advantages: granted dates for every occasion, actual food almost everyday, never an evening spent alone… the list had increased as the year had progressed. He'd found that every marriage was _indeed_ a mirage.


	2. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 2: A Condition

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer**: See Chapter 1

**Recap of Chapter 1:** James thinks about the past year, reflecting on Lily and why he fell in love with her.

* * *

**Chapter 2- **A Condition

_**x.**flashback**.x**_

James Potter slowly crept up the stairs, praying to Lord Jesus that he wouldn't get caught. No such luck. No sooner had his foot touched the second floor landing when a voice called out, "James?"

James held his breathe, hoping that his father would go back to bed, thinking there was no one there. He went down a step, as he heard his father come closer to the staircase. Another step down, and another—**SQUEAK!**

_Damn!_ James silently cursed _I should have gotten that apartment when I had the chance_. The lights flashed on, with Mr. Aaron Potter standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at his son and James blinking in the sudden brightness and looking guilty as ever.

"James Michael Potter! Where have you been on this- oh! So lovely, _Thursday__morning_?" Aaron asked his son.

James grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Is it Thursday morning already? I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong. Where have you been at 1AM in the morning?"

James gulped, looking around him to see if there was something to help him get out of this mess. Nope. Nothing. Nothing except for wood. And of course his father. He'd have to get out of this one on his own.

"Well… you see… I was just being innocent little me-" interrupted by a small **x-**cough**-x x-**cough**-x **"-NO! Honestly I was! And then along came uh…" He racked his brain for a name, still a bit out of it from his numerous drinks "Umm…Remus!"

"Now don't you blame this on the poor boy. And if I remember right isn't today the full moon?"

_Ohh… Damn!_ James swore again, having no idea that he was speaking out loud. Therefore he was shocked when his father commented on that.

"_Damn_ is right. Since you have no explanation for me I think we should have a little conversation. To the kitchens," Aaron said, gesturing towards the kitchens.

"But… but _Ron_!" he whined. He could never remember calling him anything other than 'Ron'. Growing up he'd heard his mother call him 'Ron' and the name had stuck. And now, he could NOT think of his father in anything other that 'Ron' which had been quite a problem- for Aaron, a top auror, was often reprimanded for not teaching his son any manners. Eventually however, after Mrs. Jazmin Potter has passed on, people just credited it- which happened to be "his terrible upbringing" and then compared to their _own_ son or daughter- to the fact that James had no mother.

"No buts. Let's go." And Aaron led James down the stairs into the kitchen, James protesting all the way.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Aaron pulled out a chair and sat opposite James. For a few minutes they sat in silence, Aaron thinking ways to confront his son with what he had in mind and James thinking up ways to _avoid_ what he was sure he knew was coming. Their silent reveries were interrupted by Kari, one of the three house elves left from after Jazmin Potter's death, bringing them some hot-chocolate.

Kari, even for a house-elf, was a very strange creature. One day, when Jazmin lived, a house-elf had shown up at the Potter doorstep, sobbing her heart out. Jazmin, who was very fond of these creatures, had taken her in and after a few days had calmed her down quite a bit. After a while she'd grown to love the Potter's place and had become so comfortable there that she'd accepted to work there- or rather insisted. She'd discovered that she liked rhyming when James (who'd been sent to a Muggle school till he turned 11) had learned rhyming words in school and rhymed all her sentences. When she couldn't find a word that rhymed she'd make up her own word.

"Here is chocolate- drink it hot. I'll leave the rest in the pot," she proclaimed and set down two steaming mugs of hot chocolate in front of each Potter and set a pot in the middle.

"Thank you, Kari," said Aaron, taking a sip of the chocolate.

"But Kari must speak contrary." And with a small bow, she was off.

"'But Kari must speak contrary?'" asked James, staring at Kari's retreating back.

Aaron shrugged. "I guess that's her way of saying 'no problem.' You _are_ limited to a choice vocabulary when rhyming." James stirred the steaming drink several times before finally deciding to speak.

"Ron, I have no wish of marrying-" he started, but Aaron raised his palm in the universal sign for 'halt.'

"I know you don't. Don't you ever dream of a family?" Aaron asked, genuine curiosity lining his tone.

"I have one. I have you," replied James earnestly.

"Yes there's me. But what happens when I'm gone?"

"There's Sirius," he answered, without skipping a beat.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Let's just say Sirius wasn't there. What would you do?"

"But since Sirius _is_ here we don't need to worry about that." _Duh._

Aaron sighed. James was being… well difficult. And Aaron always lost his temper with Difficult James.

"No James. You don't get it. You're my son and I love you… a lot. And always remember that whatever parents do, it's for the well-being of their children."

James snorted. "I'm not a 6 year old kid anymore, Ron. I know that that's not always true. How do you know that a marriage is the best thing for me? Huh? You don't!"

"I'm your _father _James. _I_ know. And what do you say? 'Marriage only takes the fun out of life.' Tell me James… _How do you know that? _Have you ever been married?"

James was rendered speechless. "I- I-" he stammered. His father almost never lost his temper- especially with him. And now he was yelling at James! He was extremely shocked.

Aaron continued, ignoring his son. "No! Then how can you know? That's what. _You can't._" Then he adopted a gentler tone. "Be open son. Like my grandfather used to say, 'Every marriage is a mirage. What one expects out of it and what one actually gets are two completely and dynamically opposite things.'"

"But-" James started as if he were talking to a small child. "I DON'T WANT TO MARRY, RON," he finished with a roar.

Aaron sighed. "Then… that's your final answer?"

James nodded. _Thank god! Finally! Breakthrough!_

"Positive? There's no going back," he warned.

James grinned. "Positive."

"Well then… I guess this is good bye son," he said, holding out his hand for James to shake. James simply eyed the hand, ignoring it.

"Why? Where are you going?" he asked, confused.

"Well… I'm going to a highly sophisticated place… called heaven."

James' eyes widened. "You mean… how?" he asked, feeling a bit faint.

Aaron looked at his son with concern. "James? Are you all right? You're asking me how I'm going to heaven? Oh you mean how I know that I'm going to heaven? Well… I've done nothing wrong… why shouldn't I? I mean couldn't the Lord give me at least that? He took Jazmin away from me. And now he's denying the one thing I've wanted to see all my life- you married."

"No- How are you going to die?"

Aaron looked at his son weirdly again. "I don't suppose that really matters but a simple unforgivable curse… Av-"

"You're going to kill yourself- because I won't marry?" he asked incredulously. "You must be_ joking_!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his messy hair.

Aaron shook his head. "Your mother made me promise that I'd make sure that you'd get married before I joined her. I've obviously not full-filled it. And now I know I never will. What's the use of putting it off further? I loved your mother very much and I want to join her as soon I can- but not at your expense. I was to take care of you till you were married and I wasn't to join her before that. But now…" Aaron broke off, turning his face away from James so that he could not see the tears starting to fall from his hazel eyes.

"Damn Indians and their customs!" James cried, he himself now starting to tear up. He angrily brushed away the tears. _No! James Potter DOES NOT cry_ he told himself repeatedly, but that only succeeded only in making him cry harder.

"Don't insult Indians! Your mother was part Indian. Insult me if you like but not your mother… never your mother."

"She wasn't even my real mother!"

There was silence. After James had found out that his part Indian part British mother that he had loved was not the one who had given birth to him that fact was never mentioned again. Jazmin was his mother- the one who had taken care of him and raised him. When a distraught woman came in to say that James was Aaron's son and that she didn't want to keep him, Jazmin had taken him in, loved him and raised him no questions asked. And he knew that his father felt extremely guilty about that especially since he couldn't even get James to do the one thing that Jazmin had asked from him.

_Damn this conscience!_ He screeched in his head, the conscience that was already making him feel guilty for saying anything about Indians and his mother… _his_ mother.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

James finally calmed down enough to think somewhat rationally. He rose from his chair, walked over to his father, now sobbing freely, and knelt before him.

"Ron?" he called softly. Aaron looked up, but one look in his son's eyes caused him to turn away, ashamed.

"I'm… sorry," said James. "I shouldn't… I shouldn't have insulted… insulted Indians or… or my… my m-mother."

Aaron smiled slowly through his tears. "They say there's a first time for everything. And this is the first time I'm hearing an apology from my son that sounded like he actually meant it."

James looked away, unable to make eye contact with his father. After a moment's silence he opened his mouth again. Unable to talk, he closed it once again. He tried once more, clearing his throat first.

"Umm… Ron?"

Aaron looked down at James. "Yes?"

"I… I'll do it."

"Do what James?" he asked patiently.

"I'll marry."

Honestly Aaron had heard a million things come out of James' mouth. Yet these words- never. He was elated beyond elated. He was so happy he could-

"But… on one condition…" Happy feeling gone.

"Yes?" Aaron asked, sounding almost a bit… fearful?

"I'll let you pick any girl you want and I'll marry her. I'll live with her for a year… If I like her and married life I'll stay with her..."

"If you don't?" Aaron asked James, sharply.

"If I don't… divorce."


	3. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 3: Agreement?

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

* * *

**A/N**: Enjoy!

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Recap of Chapter 2:** James and his father talk about James' marriage and James eventually accepts with a condition: he'd only live with his wife for a year unless he liked her and married life.

**Chapter 3- **Agreement?

_Divorce._ The word echoed in Aaron's head. _Divorce._

Divorce. Divorce? Was James bloody insane? How could he go about exploiting some poor girl's heart? She'd probably think she was in it for her life only to find out at the end of the year that he wasn't in it for the long run. It was just so that he could appease his heart that he _was_ indeed carrying out one of his mother's last wishes. Aaron knew that that was why James had agreed to marry in the first place. He'd always been close to his mother- even when she'd died. He'd taken all her belongings and hid them in his room 'so that they couldn't take it away.' Who 'they' was, Aaron had never found out.

But now… Now, James was being very, very, _very_ difficult. How could he even think of letting some innocent girl get caught in the middle of James' anger towards him? The poor thing!

"Ron?" asked James softly, breaking the ice that covered Aaron's brain. He looked up, startled.

"Ron?" he asked again. This time, Aaron was ready. Oh yes. He was ready- to rant.

"James Potter! How could you even think of this… this… scheme that you've cooked up? Is it your wish to face some girl's wrath after she finds out that you only married her because you had too? That you didn't love her? That after a year her life was ruined? Because I assure you that no girl- no matter how hard you look- is going to agree to those terms." Aaron paused, taking a deep breath. But before he could continue he was stopped by his son.

"Ok. I've listened to what you've got to say. Now it's your turn," James stated firmly. "Firstly there were a couple of mistakes with what you just said. I don't have to marry; I want to." As Aaron opened his mouth to protest, James held up a hand telling Aaron that he wasn't done yet.

"I could have said, 'No, I don't want to marry, go ahead and die' if I wanted to. But you never made me accept. At least not literally. Second thing, I'm not looking for a girl. You are."

Aaron who'd opened his mouth to talk again shut it promptly and started at his son.

"Wha- what?" he finally managed to stutter.

"Since I can't find a girl I'm assuming that _you_ can," James said, perhaps a little coldly.

"James… you must be joking. I-" Aaron protested weakly.

"Now are we on to this deal or not? Are you going to accept? For this is the only way I'll marry- and you know it," finished James, looking down at his fingernails, as if ignoring his father's weak protests.

Finally Aaron replied. "Do… Do I have a choice?" he asked.

James shook his head. "No. Not really." He turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen- heading to his room, leaving his father to stare at his retreating back.

Sometimes James could really be unfeeling, thought Aaron before he too went to his room and tried to find solace in sleep.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Aaron awoke the net morning, a little late, having very little sleep due to horrible dreams of what his son was making him face. He stood up shuddering at the very thought. Then Aaron decided to submit himself to the day and decided to have a word with James before going to work. So Aaron hurriedly showered and dressed and knowing that James would be out on the pitch he apparated there. True enough in a few minutes he spotted James tossing around the quaffle with the other two chasers. Aaron sat on the stands waiting for James to notice him. Eventually James noticed and said something to his teammates and rode down to meet Aaron.

He inclined his head. "Ron."

"James," Aaron replied. He cleared his throat.

"Yes?" James asked coolly, impatience written on his face. Aaron felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. With a very, _very_ sharp knife.

"James… you can't be serious… Please don't make me… I don't want to ruin some girl's life… I can't find a girl to be your toy…" Aaron pleaded with James but James just looked at his father.

"You promised." He'd said it. The magic words. And Aaron immediately knew that he had no choice. After a minute's pause, he sighed.

"What kind of girl do you want?" he asked his son, resigning himself to defeat.

"It's your job to find a girl that _you_ like. I'm marrying the girl that you choose. If I end up liking her than I'll stay with her for the rest of my life. If I don't than well… you know. It's all up to you." And then he turned around and went back to his game.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Aaron shuffled into his office, for once in his life feeling the age he looked. He slowly walked to his desk and sat on the chair behind it. Then after a moment's pause he pulled out his wand and conjured a bottle and a glass. He poured himself a drink and sipping it slowly he thought about what he had to do. He sighed. Where on Earth was he going to find a girl that agreed to the terms of his son? He paused and set his drink down. He had no choice. He'd told him he was ok with it. But now he was almost wishing for death. He'd heard stories of divorced women and men but not the exact details. He wasn't entirely sure what would happen to the unfortunate woman that ended up his son's wife.

He slowly picked up his drink once more, thinking of places to look for a girl. Coming up with nothing, he decided to just ask the first girl that came through his door. As if on cue the door opened and a girl with long blond hair came in with a bunch of files.

"Sorry for not knocking Mr. Potter," she said as she entered, pushing the door open with her back. "I had a bit too much on my hands to be able to knock." Aaron shook his head.

"Not a problem." The woman placed the folders on one of the chairs and said, "Here are the records of the Death-Eaters you wanted."

"Thank you, Alice," he said sighing in relief, knowing that he couldn't ask her; she was engaged to Frank Longbottom form the same department. Then successfully having delivered the files she walked back out the door, shutting the door behind him.

There was a successfully failed plan. He decided to wait for another girl to walk in- this time accessible. His wish was granted for no sooner had he taken another sip of his drink that the door had opened once more and another girl carried in a bunch of files, entering in much the same way as her predecessor.

"Here you go, Mr. Potter," she said, placing the files on the other, unoccupied chair. "All the files I could find on the 1855 Death Eater reunion."

"Tha- Thank you Lily." Aaron found his mouth dry, unable to speak properly. "Um… Lily?"

Lily, her hand on the door knob spun around. "Yes?"

"Uh…" He rose slowly walked to the door. She stepped aside allowing his to open the door. He opened it, looked around on both sides before shutting it and locking it with his wand. Lily was shocked. She turned to face him.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked, uncertainly. "Wha- D- I- Why?" she finally managed to ask.

"I want to talk to you, Lily," he said. "Drink?"

Lily shook her head. "No thanks."

Aaron pulled out his wand and banished the solders to a shelf on the other side of the room, giving Lily a place to sit. "Sit."

She sat, swinging her long, auburn braid away from her face. "Sir, what is this about?" she asked curiously.

"Well… My- Is it OK with you if I…" he gestured to the bottle and glass.

"No! No. Go ahead," she said hurriedly, a tad bit confused.

He sipped his drink again. "Well… My son… she… I mean he…said… My wife promised… I promised her… he'd marry…" he stuttered. "I broke my promise… He never married… I'm a bad person…" he whispered.

Lily then spotted the tears streaming down Aaron's cheeks, her eyes widening. This was the Aaron Potter who'd not lost control or determination when 23 of the 40 army of aurors had fallen. The Aaron Potter that didn't quit when there wasn't one single person that believed his theory of the Death-Eater's killing ritual, even when he delivered eye-witness accounts of it-until several ministry workers had accidentally come upon it, proving Aaron's theory. And the same Aaron Potter was sitting before her, crying because he'd broken a promise to his wife. Lily was really shocked.

"Sir?" she asked, cautiously. "I… What can I do, sir?" she asked, finally making up her mind to help him.

Aaron shook his head. "No… no… I can't… you're such a good person…" he was speaking almost to himself, as if trying to decide whether or not to ask Lily something.

"No sir. It's OK. Feel free to… to ask… _whatever_ you want!" Lily cried earnestly.

Aaron looked up at her, wiping his tears hastily, his eyes expressing shock. "You mean… _anything_?" he whispered. "Anything?"

Lily nodded after a short pause. "Anything."

"Really?" he confirmed, one last time, one last attempt, one last emotion: desperation.

"Really." Aaron's expression changed to something that Lily couldn't identify. Was that happiness? Relief? Shock? Sadness? _Pride_? Lily's mind was very dizzy, unable to comprehend how exactly a person could express all those emotions at one single time. She herself was only capable of feeling only one emotion at a time- which most of the time was anger, frustration or exasperation.

Then Aaron spoke, in a small, low voice. "Anything…" he said, as if reassuring himself. "Then, will you marry my son?"

Lily had honestly been expecting a large magnitude of things but nothing as… as _indescribable_ as this! It was beyond her wildest dreams- and she had a never-ending stack of those. No, Lily had never dreamed of her superior, someone as… as esteemed… as _important_ as Mr. Aaron Potter proposing to her in the place of his son. And she had a few things to say about that.

"What? You… you must be kidding!" She jumped up, out of her chair, as if ready to fight. "I don't… I don't even know your son! He… He wants me to _marry_ him? He must be-" she stopped herself, thinking that Aaron might not be too happy with her telling off her son. The words kept circling around her head, _Will you marry my son?_ She was feeling dizzy, almost as if she was going to fall down.

Then as the magnitude of the situation grasped her she lost a lot of her vigor. "I… How can you… Why me?" she asked, sinking back into her seat.

Aaron looked at her. "I'm sorry."

Lily was shocked. "No, no… I just… it was… why?"

Aaron didn't answer the question, at least not directly. "Will you meet my son?"

Lily was taken aback. "What?" she asked.

"Will you meet my son? He's a chaser for-"

"I know your son, Mr. Potter. He just doesn't know me."

"Oh." Aaron was surprised. "From Quidditch?" he asked. Not many people followed the team James played for.

"From school," she said. "Hogwarts."

"Oh. Then you… you don't need any introductions. I'll let him know you're stopping by," Aaron said.

Lily's mind screamed in protest. _No! You never said you'd meet him!_ But Lily ignored it and said, "OK." The two letter word that'd just determined her fate.

Aaron smiled a very genuine smile. "Thank you Lily. I owe you so much." Lily nodded. But just how much she didn't know just then.

Oh yes. He owed her. He owed her _big-time_.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily was angry. Actually more of, 'Lily was frustrated.' And Frustrated Lily often led to Angry Lily. And Angry Lily always lost control, meaning that she often said more than she meant to or ended up hurting people- physically. So James was in for a shock when he found someone sitting on the stands, glancing at her watch every few minutes and glaring at the sky.

Lily had gone to the Quidditch pitch at 7:00 when there had been 7 people practicing. One of them, a girl, had flown down after a while after heading to the locker rooms she'd showered and come out, calling out something to the others before walking down by the stands where Lily was sitting.

Catching sight of Lily the girl asked, "Hello there! Are you waiting for some one?"

"Yes," Lily replied. "I'm waiting for James. James Potter."

"Oh. Let me get him for you. JAMES!" she bellowed.

Lily flinched. She'd never liked loud voices, even when she'd been a small, hyper child-hyper, yes; loud, no. The girl left soon after, assuming that James would come down, followed by a guy- one that Lily knew wasn't James, followed by another (also not James) and two girls. She waited impatiently for James to come down. Just as she'd made up her mind to leave, thinking he wasn't going to come down for a bit, the two remaining players landed. She hurried forward to meet them, but they entered the locker rooms. She sped up a bit and jogged to the locker rooms. She had every intention of entering until she saw that sign that said, 'BOYS.' She silently cursed and stood around for a bit until the two boys came out.

They came out, 20 minutes later, running towels through their soaking scalps. James caught sight of Lily first and gave her an once-over. He nudged his companion and he too looked her over. They seemed to approve of her for they came over to her.

Lily, who'd been watching the two guys intently resisted rolling her eyes and held out her hand as they approached.

James grasped it first. "Lily Evans," she said.

"James… Potter." Lily nodded.

"I know," she nodded, and then extended her hand to the other guy. Expecting him to shake it, she was shocked when he took it lightly and then raised her knuckles to his lips and kissed them. "Sirius Black, mademoiselle," he said softly.

She hesitated, but just a moment. "Lily Evans," she finally said.

"So…" hurried James. Sirius and Lily looked at him, startled. "You are here?" he finished lamely.

Lily and Sirius looked at each other. Lily raised and eye brow, turning back to James.

"Yeah. I'm here." Sirius started to laugh openly.

James colored deeply. "I meant… my father said… you'd be dropping by… I just forgot kinda… sorry."

Lily shrugged. "No problem."

"You want to walk around or something?"

"Or something. Why don't we go to that café near the ministry? They just opened it a couple of days back. _Jesse's Coffee and Snack Bar_ or something like that?" Lily asked, starting to feel a little cold. James shrugged.

"And Sirius…" Lily started to ask. James immediately cut in. "He can take care of himself."

Sirius shrugged. "Sure. I'll be in my apartment if you need me." James grunted a response. Sirius then turned to Lily, winking at her. "Have fun."

Lily rolled her eyes, already knowing how to handle Sirius.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" James asked. James and Lily were sitting at a table at the almost empty coffee shop, sipping coffees.

"Well… your father said to meet you and something about marrying…" Lily trailed off, still not comfortable enough with the topic to talk at length about. She just prayed that James would understand what she was talking about. It seemed that her prayers were answered for the very next thing he said was:

"Oh. _Oh._ Yeah I… are you ok with the… with the agreement?" he asked, a bit hesitant.

"Agreement?" Lily asked in return, placing her coffee mug on the table, sensing that it was important.

"Oh well… should I tell you?"

"Please James. If I am to be marrying you then shouldn't you kind of trust me? And really, anyone would like to know what they're getting into. _I'd_ like to know what this marriage holds for me." James just started at her, kind of blankly. Lily sighed.

"Just tell me, James."

James took a sip of coffee, as if just to wet his lips. Then he said, "Well… I didn't really want to marry. But because of some family complications I had to… so I just told my father that… he could pick out any girl for me." James once more took a sip of his coffee. Lily hoped that it would end there but she knew there was more. "And I said that I'd live with any girl he picked out for a year unless I liked her… a lot… and also married life with her."

Lily was silent. It took a couple of minutes for her brain to understand what James was saying. He wanted to play with her life. He wanted to ruin it! And she'd not let any man treat her as a toy! James could see the anger growing in her eyes. He could sense her heating up. He'd seen her get angry in school before and that was truly not a pleasant sight. He gulped, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.

"Lily?" he asked, cautiously. "I-"

"Don't say anything!" she hissed. "Do you think that women are toys? _Things_ that you can just play with whenever you want? Do I look like I want to be treated the way you're proposing? ARE YOU BLOODY INSANE? How dare you… you throw this _proposal_ at me?" She spat put the word proposal as if it were a disgusting word. Her tone and harsh words almost made James want to cower in fright. But then he told himself, "James! Be a man, be strong! What can a woman do to you?"

He put on a face that looked seemingly uncaring as he turned to face her again. But he never realized that he'd spoken aloud until Lily used his words against him.

"What can a woman do?" she asked him, shocked that he had such a low opinion of women. "I'll show you what a woman can do! I woman can hurt a man more than a man can hurt a woman. A woman will only be hurt is she lets a man hurt her. I'll show you. But for now this will do," she said, as she noticed that the few people in the café were looking at them. She grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door when she turned back. She placed the money for her coffee on the table and then walked to the other side of the table, stopping straight in front of James. She paused for a moment before swinging her arm back and slapping him full force on the cheek.


	4. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 4: Emotions

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

* * *

**A/N**: Enjoy! 

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Recap of Chapter 3:** Aaron confronts Lily about marrying James and then she goes to meet James where she learns of the agreement between father and son and looses her cool with James and ends up slapping him.

**Chapter 4-** Emotions

Lily let herself into her apartment, slowly closing her door, leaning against it. She shut her eyes, head throbbing. She'd apparated back home after leaving James in the café and after she got back she'd changed into slacks and a tee and gone out jogging. She'd always found running the best method to let out her anger and frustrations. After a thirty minute jog around the park she'd decided to return and grab a bite for dinner.

Lily forced herself to open her eyes and leave her position by the door. She went into her bed room, pulled out a towel from the dresser and stepped into the shower. She turned the hot water on full blast.

_I hate men!_ She decided as she grabbed the soap and began to scrub viciously. _Men are not worth your time Lily!_ she told herself. _They'll only try to hurt you. But you can't let them! _

She scrubbed even harder. One part of her mind said, _Just like you told James. You'll only be hurt by men if you let them. Don't let James and Mr. Potter ruin you life, Lily! You know better than that._

She finally put the soap down and let the burning hot water run over her body. _You told James, didn't you? You said you'd show him that you'll get back at him? Accept the marriage proposal just to lead him on. Get him to love you and then apply for a divorce. Then he'll know!_

_NO!_ another part of her mind screamed- the conscience. _That's LOW! You can't do that to him! How'd you feel if some one did the same to you?_

_Better than being walked over by James!_ cried the other part in return.

Lily listened to the two parts of her mind argue back and forth, her head aching. She turned out the hot water tap completely and stood silent for several moments, listening to the dripping of the tap. Then suddenly she turned the cold water on full blast and though that left her shivering, it got rid of both her headache and the arguing voices in her head.

Turning the tap off, she grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her. She walked out of the bathroom, her feet plodding along the wooden floor. She went to her room and flipped on the light switch. She pulled out some clothes and was just about to get into them when the phone rang. She jumped, causing the clasp of her bracelet to get caught in the towel. She jiggled it this way and that but couldn't get it free. She panicked as the phone rang the third time. She abandoned the clasp and ran out into the living room to get the phone. She got to it just as the phone rang for the fourth time.

'Hello," she gasped into the telephone, trying to catch her breath, still struggling with the bracelet.

"Lily?" a small voice called back into the phone.

"Yes. Uh… Who's this?" she asked, unable to identify the voice, as she jiggled the bracelet even harder.

"Lily… It's Steve… Ev- we need you here…" said the voice, a hint of hysteria in it.

"Steve? What's wrong?" Steve, her brother, seldom phoned. She gave the bracelet one last desperate wiggle and finally it came free.

"We- Just come over please!" she begged.

Lily's mind began to race, wondering what exactly could be so important. "I- I'll be there shortly," she called into the receiver before hanging up. She rushed back into her bed room changing into the clothes as fast as she could. She grabbed her wand and apparated to her parent's house in Surrey.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

James stormed into his house, angry at himself for bringing up the subject, angry at Lily for slapping him, and angry at his father for picking such a violent woman. He kicked off his shoes, sinking in the couch, his arms crossed, sulking. How could she have slapped him- especially in front of all those people? I mean he was a _Quidditch star_! Women would _kill_ just to spend a day with him, let alone a _whole year!_ She should be _excited_ to get such an opportunity. Not friggin' _pissed!_ His cheek still hurt for heaven's sake from the slap that b- he stopped himself he said the word, knowing that his father would be upset if he said it.

He picked himself off the couch and went to the bath room where he flipped on the light switch and looked at himself in the glass, wondering if he was bad looking- that might be why she rejected him in the first place. His hair was as messy as ever, his hazel eyes bright with anger behind his wire rimmed glasses, his skin creamy and smooth. Except for the pinkish tinge on his left cheek. He rubbed at it vigorously, hoping it would go away but to no avail. The red mark stayed. He looked at himself for a few more minutes. He felt that he hadn't lost any of his looks. _Maybe something's wrong with her eyesight or something._

James flipped off the switch and returned to his sulking position on the couch. He sank into its depths and soon he was not only in the depths of the seat but also into the depths of his mind, relenting to the recurring thought of the slap and the things that led to it. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't hear his father let himself in nor when he went upstairs and showered, or when he came back down and softly called his name.

"James!" Aaron cried, finally causing his son to look up at him.

"James, what on Earth is the matter with you? You've just been sitting there since I came back not even looking at me! What if it hadn't been me, huh? What if it'd been a burglar? Would you just have let him take everything he wanted, just sitting there?" Aaron scolded.

James just looked up and glared silently at his father.

"You don't know what I've been through!" James hissed before returning to his previous position.

"Well, James, I would only if you told me," Aaron said, as if explaining to a small child.

James looked up once more. "She slapped me," he said shortly. Aaron, in the process of picking up one of the shoes that James had kicked off stopped short. "What?" he asked slowly straightening up.

"She _slapped_ me! _She_ slapped me! She slapped _me_!" James suddenly cried, stressing different parts of the sentence each time.

"Who? Lily?" Aaron asked, confused, but James seemed not to hear.

"Do you know how many people would _kill_ to spend a _day_ with me!" he continued, addressing his father. But before Aaron could answer he hurried on. "And I offer her a year. A _whole_ year, sacrificing my freedom and what does she do? Slap me! ME! The infamous Marauder and famous Quidditch player! Can you believe her?" he asked Aaron, this time waiting for an answer.

"Well… actually I can. What did you say to her James?"

"Nothing!"

"Yes and she slapped you for no reason," said Aaron sarcastically.

"YES! That's what I'm trying to say!" James yelled.

"James," Aaron said in a threatening tone.

"I said NOTHING!" Aaron glared at his son. James faltered.

"James, What- Did- You- Say!" The previous night where James had had his father ready to beg on his knees was forgotten; now, Aaron _surely_ had his son under his control. James looked down.

"Well… stuff about..." And just his luck, there was a knock on the door and with a quick, "I'll get it!" James was out of his father's reach. Aaron sighed and took up the seat and position his son had been in just a few minutes previously.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily rang the doorbell of her house, tapping her foot impatiently. She heard some yelling and a small high pitched shriek before the door opened to reveal her younger brother, an apologetic smile on him face. That was a smile that the entire family had practiced- they were going to need it whenever their oldest sister/daughter (depending on the family member it was that opened the door) was around. But on seeing Lily, his smile turned to one of sadness.

"I see 'Tunia is in the house? What happened this time?" Lily asked him wryly.

Steve's sad smile turned into a happy grin. "Her boyfriend's sister said that she was too bony," he said, almost happily, beckoning fro Lily to follow him inside. Lily laughed. And then she sobered up. "Steve… what happened? You called and-"

"Shh!" he hissed, looking around the living room, making sure that no one was around. "Not now!" Lily was taken aback, but deciding that Steve knew what had happened and was telling her to stay silent for a reason, she obliged. He stopped outside the kitchen and tiptoed across the doorway. When he reached the other side he motioned for Lily to follow. She copied his actions and silently crossed the kitchen. Steve led her up silently to the den on the second floor. It was then that he talked.

"Lily? Eve… she is in a bit of trouble." Steve looked down.

"What happened?" Lily asked, alarmed.

"Well… you know that boyfriend of hers?" Steve asked, looking up.

"Yes…" Lily answered, a bit hesitantly. Steve noticed it and said, "The one we know exists but we don't know anything about?" Lily nodded.

"Well, apparently he's gotten her… pregnant." Steve cast his eyes downward again. Lily was silent; her eyes were wide with shock, and small beads of perspiration formed on her forehead. It was always up to her to solve all the problems. Always! Petunia was the oldest, sure, but she was as mature as a small child. She had no sense of responsibility and she was very nitpicky about her decisions. Steve took charge whenever Lily wasn't there. That was all that he could do. And Evelyn was the baby of the family- she wasn't expected to handle anything. Not that she couldn't but Lily's parents had always been that way, not letting her carry a heavy load on herself. And while Lily's mother and father had the house under control most of the time, they _were_ getting old and some one had to take charge. So of course all responsibility fell on the second oldest child, Lily.

She sighed, wiping her forehead. She sank into the nearest chair. "Why?" was all she was able to get out for fatigue and an alarmingly large number of emotions overwhelmed her.

Steve sighed. "We don't know… but she… she claims that he didn't… rape her." Steve hung his head, once more.

Lily pulled herself up and forcing herself to think about her family instead of herself she walked to Steve and pulled him into a tight hug. "It'll be ok, Steve." And after letting go she asked him what had been bothering her for the past few minutes.

"Steve… what did mum and dad say?"

Steve looked Lily straight in her eyes and she saw the unshed tears he had for his younger sister. Lily closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall down _her_ cheeks. She opened them slowly to find Steve still staring at her.

"Mum is in shock. She's… unconscious."

Lily sat down again, her head in her hands, starting to sob silently. But Steve, however, had turned the other way and not noticing Lily, continued to speak.

"She always thought of Evelyn as the baby of the family. She thought that she was so good and so _pure_. She didn't expect her to go this far… no never in her wildest dreams. Perhaps kissing would have been a hesitant OK for Evelyn to have had. And when she heard that Eve was pregnant she just lost control, I suppose. She fainted, you know, and I cried at 'Tunia to call Mrs. Brink, you know the new neighbor, the doctor? And she said that Mum had gone into shock. She put her to bed. And then Dad also lost control, snapping at anyone that made any noise. That's why I made you tiptoe across the kitchen. And Evelyn and Petunia-" Steve turned around, and stopped talking abruptly as he saw Lily sobbing into her hands softly.

"Lily?" he called gently. "Oh My- Lily, I'm so sorry. I didn't think- I'm _so_ sorry. Here, lemme get you-" He grabbed a box of tissues and offered it to Lily. She slowly lifted up her head and took a single tissue and blew her nose. Then she took another and wiped her eyes and cheeks.

"I'm so sorry!" she whispered. "Come on, Lets go talk to Dad and Eve and, I have to see mum-"

"No, Lily. You're not going anywhere. You need to rest. Stay over here tonight. Call off work tomorrow. We'll talk to mum and dad in the morning."

Lily shook her head sadly. "I have to go to work tomorrow. But I'll stay over tonight." Steve led her to Evelyn's room where there was an extra bed and no sooner had Lily laid down that sleep over came her.

Steve turned off the light and exited, closing the door behind him, softly.


	5. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 5: Solutions

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Disclaimer: **See chapter 1.

* * *

**VERY, VERY IMPORTANT A/N**: Whew! Ok this is** IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ _ALL_ OF IT.** Here is a brief overview of my plans for this story. It is going to be divided into 5 segments/ parts of 6 chapters each (give or take a few) so the story is (thus far) scheduled for about 30 chapters. I'm going to re-do the entire chapters/titles thing so that each specifies the segment/ part, the title of it, and _then_ the title of the _chapter_.

The first 6 chapters are the introductory chapters- introducing the plot, characters, themes and all that jazz. That's why there hasn't been much activity since perhaps the 2nd- but I'll assure you that things start back up at around chapter 6- that's the next one.

**I have made some big changes such as in setting and added characters **(well they were in the original plot but I edited them out and now they're back in) **I DO HOPE YOU READ AT LEAST THE WHOLE OF THIS AUTHOR NOTE BECAUSE IT SAYS A LOT THAT MY READERS NEED TO KNOW.**

Arista

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Recap of Chapter 4:** Lily rants about 'stupid men', James tells his father what happened at the café, and Lily receives an urgent call from her younger brother regarding her sister.

**Chapter 5- **Solutions

James, yanking open the door, had been quite surprised, really, to see the person that'd knocked on his door. There was a tall figure standing at his door, suitcase in hand, clothed in a black robe with the hood up. James looked the character up and down taking in the blackness. The color of black on her was unmistakable; black suitcase, black robe, black heels, and he could make nothing out of the face of this _woman_- it had to be a woman, for who else would wear heels?- except shadows. He shuddered, involuntarily and took a step back. He had no idea who this woman was. He was about to ask what she wanted when he caught sight of something gleaming on her eyebrow, and then several '_somethings'_ on her ear. Realization dawned on him.

"Lor?" he called softly into the darkness, wondering if his eyes had deceived him. But no. 'Lor' replied.

"James?" For once in his life he heard her hesitate. She was always so strong, holding herself up with determination and pride caring nothing about what people said or thought about her.

He stepped out, looking closely at the so familiar face. "Lor? What happened? Why are you here?"

"Can we talk inside?" she asked quietly. James was flustered. He hurriedly apologized for not inviting her in and reached out to take the suitcase clutched in Lor's hands. He shut the door behind him, placing the suitcase in the living room. She followed him in, meekly, still not letting down her hood. He told her to sit on one of the couches and hurriedly poked his father in the back.

"Ron!" he hissed. "Look who's here! Get up!" Aaron put up his head, sighing. He blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"Who, James?" he asked tiredly. James moved aside, revealing Lor. Aaron stared at her for a few before he realized who it was. His eyes wide, "Loranda?" he whispered.

Loranda slowly lowered her hood, revealing long blond hair with natural dark streaks and brilliant blue eyes. She still wore glasses and had a piercing on her left eyebrow, 3 on her left ear and four on her right. She had on dark eyeliner that was smeared over her almond shaped eyes as if she'd been crying, and she had on a very light layer of black eye shadow. James and his father couldn't take their eyes off her, having been rendered speechless.

James found his voice first. "Lor? _What_ happened to you?" he asked, hoarsely.

Loranda looked down. "They found my family. They murdered them," she whispered fiercely.

James found himself speechless once more. "Why?" he moaned, sinking into the couch beside his father.

Loranda looked down. "I don't know! Because we didn't help them!" she spat, spitefully.

"You're no different from the rest of us!" cried James, defensively, sitting up straight. "You just decided that you weren't going to help him kill muggle-borns!"

Lor hung her head solemnly. "I was out with Logan. We survived. Logan went to his friend's house. We wanted to split apart so we wouldn't be found." She stopped, unsure of how to address the question she wanted to ask.

James sat back, noticing her hesitation. There was silence for a moment. "How long do you need to stay here?" James asked, finally.

Loranda shrugged. "It's just until I find work to get my own place. I'm sorry to cause any inconvenience but…"

"No… it's ok… I just… I might be getting married sometime soon that's all…" James said, looking anywhere but Lor's eyes. Lor looked at him, her face emotionless.

"Well… advanced congratulations, then."

"You can stay here however long you want and you are welcome back here as long as this house is in our custody," said Aaron, finally opening his mouth. "James, call Kari and ask her to prepare a bedroom for Lorwen."

Lily awoke the next morning, her mind filled with all the problems that she had in her current life. She groaned, wanting to bury herself deeper into her pillow, but she dragged her feet out of bed anyway knowing that she's have to face her father and Mr. Potter sometime in that day. She walked into the bathroom, flipping on the switch, and looked at herself in the mirror: pale, creamy white skin, auburn hair falling from her loose ponytail, emerald eyes filled with weariness. She splashed some cold water onto her face, hurrying to the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled as she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous afternoon. She found her family in the kitchen, untouched breakfast in front of them- well everyone except Petunia. She pulled up a chair beside her brother and sat down.

"Hey everyone. Good morning."

"Good morning," replied Steve, a little dully.

"Mornin' Lily," replied Evelyn in a small voice. Mr. Evans nodded at Lily. And Petunia ignored her.

Lily sighed. This much she'd expected. "I need to talk to you all before I go to work," she stated, sarcastically complimenting herself for breaking the ice in her mind.

"About what?" asked a very small sounding Evelyn.

"You, Mother, Dad, 'Tunia," answered Steve, impassively.

"Eve, why?" Lily asked her sister gently.

Evelyn hung her head. "I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did. And I don't wanna abort it!" she suddenly wailed, sobbing hard. Lily looked away.

"You don't have to, Eve," Lily replied, softly. She waited for her to quiet down, deciding to tackle her father before going back to Evelyn.

"But dad says she has to!" cried Petunia.

"Dad?" she called hesitantly. He grunted to show he was listening.

"Why? Just let her have the kid… it's hers!" cried Steve before Lily had a chance to speak.

"Shh!" said Lily, "Dad… please… it's her child. Let her decide," she explained patiently.

"Where will we go for the money for this kid, huh?" asked Petunia, a little harshly. "Dad and Steve along with Mum's part-time job are just barely enough for Evelyn's education, my marriage, and providing for the family. And you have enough money just to take care of your apartment and your life. We can't provide for her child too! Where will we go for the hospital care charges and other things?"

But before Steve or Lily could retaliate, Mr. Evans stepped in. "We'll talk about this another time."

Lily looked down and then up at her father again, finally deciding to speak.

"I know that this is too much for you to hear in one day but I must tell you. And everyone else," she looked around the table. "I received a marriage proposal yesterday."

The entire room turned quiet, even Petunia dropped her fork in shock. Her father turned to look at her.

"What?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Someone… from… work… proposed to me," she replied, making a split-second decision not to tell them about the deal just as yet.

"Are you going to accept?" Petunia asked, a bit snobbishly, but genuine curiosity lined her voice.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "But I just thought I'd warn you… you know? So if I _do_ accept it, it won't come as huge shock…" Once more she was answered by silence. The only sound was Evelyn sniffling, her sobs having ceased.

Lily walked to the cupboard and pulled out a glass and filling it with water from the sink she addressed Evelyn, her attention having riveted back to her.

"Eve, do you know who the father is?" she asked, gulping down some water.

Evelyn nodded. "His name is… Daray. Daray Willis." Lily chocked and spat out most of the water in her mouth on the floor. She banged herself on the chest before gasping out, "What?"

Everyone in the kitchen looked at her weirdly. "Daray Willis," Evelyn repeated, slowly.

Lily's eyes widened. The once slightly chilly room turned burning hot and small beads of perspiration appeared on her forehead. Her hands began to tremble. She hastily set the glass on the counter, splashing water on herself. She fumbled around her jeans for her wand and finding it she grasped it tightly.

"I have to go," she said quickly and apparated back to her house where she took a cold shower before hurrying to the auror HQ.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily rushed down the hallways of the ministry wanting to have a word with Mr. Potter privately before most people came to work. As she darted down corridor after corridor, floor after floor she never noticed the bewildered looks people were giving her, nor the two silent figures following her. It was just as she stopped outside Mr. Potter's office, trying to catch her breath that the two figures caught up to her, also panting heavily.

"Gosh, Lily! You need to slow down!" one of them cried, leaning against the wall for support. Lily, startled, jumped, whirling around, causing her heart rate to speed up once again. On seeing one of her best friends, Jenna, she sighed.

"You scared me half to death there," she panted. Gordo, her other best friend rolled his eyes, a bit more fit than the other two he'd not had that much trouble running trough the ministry.

"So what's the big hurry?" he inquired. "Everyone's been staring at you like you've grown an extra head or two," he tried to joke. Lily just glared at him. "Excuse us if some of us actually do work at our jobs instead of trying to get people of the opposite sex to look at us," she replied sarcastically, trying the handle of the door only to find it locked.

Gordo threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, fine… I was merely curious as to why you were try a door, firstly of one of the Heads, with out knocking, especially when it says DO NOT DISTURB." Lily looked up and finding that it was indeed true she colored slightly. But trying to preserve some of her dignity she said, "Well, I'm allowed to enter his room with out knocking for he asked me to marry his son," although she didn't entirely mean to break it to her friends so abruptly. They were rendered silent.

Jenna found her voice first. "WHAT!" she cried. "When?"

Lily looked away. "Uh… yesterday? Morning?" Jenna put her hands on her hips.

"And why didn't I hear about it until now?" she demanded.

"Heh… oops?" Lily said. "I'll tell you the whole story after I've had a word with Mr. Potter ok?" she promised but Jenna would not hear of it.

"Now. And that's final," she stated and proceeded to drag Lily and Gordo to the elevators and out to a café opposite the ministry.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

"Ok spill," Jenna demanded, as soon as they'd sat down in the table farthest from the door, with their steaming cups of coffee.

"Well… there's nothing to say, really…" Gordo sensed that she was hesitant and said soothingly, "Go on, Lil. Tell us. We'll help in any way possible ok?" Inwardly he grimaced for sounding so _caring._ He prided himself on his sarcasm and impassiveness, the way he could tell horror stories with a seemingly uncaring attitude.

"Well… OK…" And Lily started on her tale. She talked of Potters and how Mr. Potter had cried about the broken promise, and the proposition that Mr. Potter had for her, and then how he'd had her go and visit James, and the deal, and how she'd slapped James and how much she hated him. By the end of the hour long rant Gordo was almost regretting persuading Lilly to tell her story. Massaging his temples he signaled the waiter and ordered another cup of coffee.

"Wow… That's quite a lot to happen to you in one day," Jenna remarked, thoughtfully. "And by the look on your face more happened." Lily blushed as Gordo incredulously mouthed, "More!"

And so that was how Gordo and Jenna came to know of Evelyn and her mother, and how Daray came to play a role in her life, yet again.

After Lily finished, Jenna remarked, "Hmm… Interesting…"

Lily looked up at her, from her coffee. "What are you thinking Jen?"

"Well…" Jenna stirred her coffee, idly. "Are you going to accept it?" Before Lily could answer, Gordo cut it.

"No. Absolutely not!"

"And why not?" Jenna asked impatiently.

"Because." He stated, gesturing furiously with his eyes.

"Because?" she asked, irritated.

"_Because of reasons that I can't speak in here_!" he hissed, finally loosing his patience.

"Oh." Jenna glumly sat back in her chair.

"What are you thinking, Jen?" Lily asked yet again.

"Well… you need to solve the problem of Evelyn right?" Lily nodded, having no idea where this was going. But Gordo, once more interrupted, guessing where this was going.

"You want her to use the Potters? Their money? Fine… that'll work for a year. After that where will Lily go for the funding?" Gordo spat angrily.

"Who said that James was only going to stay with her for a year? Lily might be able to get him to change his mind!" Jenna cried in Lily's defense.

"I know James Potter and he is NOT one to go against his pride and since he has stated that he won't like married life, he'll make sure he won't even if he truly does!" Gordo roared.

Jenna cowered from the sound of Gordo's voice. "Let Lily decide," she said meekly.

Gordo sighed, taking a long sip of coffee. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my cool like that."

Jenna shrugged. "I brought it upon myself. SO what do you think Lily? You haven't said anything?"

She seemed to ponder for a moment. "I'll sleep on it," she finally replied. And with a few parting words, the three left the café, Gordo and Jenna leaving extra generous tips for any inconvenience they might have caused by their yelling, Lily deep in thought, all three determined to make the rest of their day a very calm one, without much depression.


	6. Part 1: Intro: Chapter 6: Decisions

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Beta:** Telwyn Dubois

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

* * *

**A/N:** _Sorry for the extremely, extremely long delay!_ Enjoy!

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Recap of Chapter 5:** Lily rants about 'stupid men', James tells his father what happened at the café, and Lily receives an urgent call from her younger brother regarding her sister.

**Chapter 6- **Decision

It was late evening, and the last golden rays were just fading from view, leaving behind a velvety, periwinkle color. Inside the Ministry of Magic, Lily was just adding the finishing touches to a file about a newly arisen Death Eater case that she'd been working on lately. After finishing, she set down the quill and glanced at the clock on her desk. The blinking neon red numbers read 7:32. Lily yawned, stretching. Picking up the file, she decided to drop it off at Mr. Potter's before leaving. As she passed by Gordo's office, she decided to stop by and say hello.

She knocked on his door and, upon hearing him yell, "Enter", she strolled in leisurely softly shutting the door behind her. Gordo, as one of the Heads (those who headed the field worker teams) had the privilege of his own office and he made use of it well. He had covered the wall with pictures of his Hogwarts days: friends, teachers, and especially, Lily and Jenna, his two best friends. Several bookshelves sat against the wall, lined with books on wizarding law. Beside them was a cabinet filled with exotic drinks of all sorts- reserved only for his important guests. The short dark-haired man sat behind a large mahogany desk with intricate carvings on a high-backed wooden chair, pouring over a large book. In front of the desk were two chairs, similar to Gordo's but a little smaller in size. The whole room screamed of elegance.

Lily dropped her folder on his desk with a resounding thud. Gordo looked up from his book, momentarily startled. He sighed, after realizing that it was just Lily.

"Oh, it's you," he said dismissively, looking back down at his book and flipping several pages.

"Don't I feel loved," she commented wryly, walking over to look at one of his pictures.

It was a picture of her and Jenna with a couple of other friends that no longer lived in England. They were sprawled on the grass in front of Hogwarts, throwing blades of grass at the person taking the picture, in this case, Gordo. One of the girls in the photo had moved to Spain and the other, a guy, now lived somewhere in the US. They'd fallen out of touch though they'd been the best of friends at school. She gazed at it fondly, remembering her Hogwarts days.

"Didn't hear you come in. I was just startled," he said defensively, not looking away from the book.

She turned back around to face Gordo. "Fine, fine. What's that you're reading?" she asked, walking behind him and reading over his shoulder.

_It is an old ritual that cannot be changed except by those who wrote the law. Since we cannot change it, it's wiser that we forget and hide the term and save the women of the future from the pains of-_

Gordo shut the book before Lily could read more. Lily looked at him. puzzled. Why was he reading about rituals? Especially about the rituals of women? As far as she knew, no one at the moment was working on anything to do with rituals. She shook her head, deciding that maybe it was just a bit of light reading.

"You call this light?" Gordo asked her, pointing at the book, making her realize that she'd spoken aloud.

"Oh sorry… I didn't realize I'd spoken aloud." The young woman colored slightly, the pink of her cheeks in sharp contrast with the paleness of her skin.

Gordo rolled his eyes. "Take a seat, Lil."

Lily raised an eyebrow but took a seat opposite Gordo, anyway. As she moved, she caught sight of the title of the book- '_A Brief Overview of Wizarding Marriages._' Lily's eyebrows shot up, but she refrained from commenting.

"I hope I didn't bother you," Lily commented, actually meaning the words she directed at Gordo.

"Oh, no prob. I was intending on visiting you anyway."

"What did I do?" Lily asked, more out of impulse than anything else.

Gordo rolled his eyes once more at the red-haired woman that never failed to amaze him. "Nothing, Lily. Why do you always assume that you did something wrong whenever I wanna talk to you?" he asked. Lily shrugged.

"Well, because you normally don't talk to me much anymore unless something of importance comes up- which normally means that I've messed up someplace."

Gordo chuckled. "Too true," he agreed. He soon sobered up and adopted a serious tone. "Lil? Seriously, all kidding aside, I've been doing research for _you_."

"F- for me?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Yes. About this marriage proposal that you've received."

Lily looked up at him in shock. The entire room seemed to darken and out of nowhere, a draft of frigid air seemed to blow in. Goosebumps appeared on Lily's arms, though she knew not why.

_Why am I becoming so paranoid?_ She asked herself. _He just wants to talk to me about something. But… Oh! Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_ She mentally shook herself and concentrated on what Gordo had to say.

"The world wasn't always the world we know today, Lil. We've changed and adapted to this ever-changing universe just like everyone else. But this culture, too, was once as prejudiced and racist as any other. The wizards ruled everything; the women had almost no freedoms. They couldn't take part in politics, work as Aurors, fight against the Dark Wizards or Witches of their time, or basically do anything worthwhile. They were just kept at home after their schooling and served their husbands- much like the Malfoys do even now. Narcissa sits at home most of the time while Lucius is out on his raids. And even if she wished, she couldn't do anything to betray her husband" Gordo turned around to face her, his back to the tall beech cabinet. He slowly walked back to his desk and fingering a velvet lined picture frame he asked her slowly. "Do you know what an Unbreakable Vow is?"

Lily nodded her head, confused as to where this was going. "Yes, but what does this have anyth-" Gordo held up a hand.

"When a wizard and a witch are married, they make a vow, _vowing never to leave each other_," he stressed the last part..

"You mean they make an Unbreakable Vow?" she asked incredulously.

"NO! It's not that serious. Well it's like anUnbreakable Vowexcept that it won't cause death if you break it. But it is a magical bond nonetheless so you can't break it. And though it isn't Unbreakable, there are certain rituals that need to be performed before the separation can occur."

"But then marriages can be broken… what's the problem?" she asked hesitantly. Gordo sighed.

"In theory it can. It's just never been attempted before."

"Then… I'd… _die_ if I went through this?" she asked, hollowly.

"We… can't say. I mean it's never been attempted before."

"No wizard or witch before has ever felt the need to divorce her husband, wife, whatever?" she asked, a bit shocked. In her mind, the shock had been replaced by the starting of a resolution. It was barely there but slowly, surely it was making its way into the depths of her mind.

Gordo still refused to meet her eyes. "I told you before, Lil. The women were chained to their husbands like Narcissa and Malfoy. And the men _enjoyed_ having the women practically _grovel_ in submission. A divorce need two signatures- one of them the husbands. When the wives were scared of the husbands and scared of the ritual its not entirely impossible. The wives knew that if they dishonored their husbands by asking for a divorce knowing that they most certainly would not give their signature, their husbands would either torture or kill them."

"I don't believe that not one single person felt the need to do this," she muttered getting up and pacing around the room. "I just don't! Then where does the 'divorce' part come from?" She addressed the last part to Gordo.

"It's a muggle concept… Mostly it was just annulling or canceling of marriages…"

Lily finally rose.

"I gotta go," she said turning to the door.

"Lily," he called. She turned back. "Sleep on it. Make your decision" He conjured up a small packet of tissues and handed hem to her. She grabbed a few of them and wiped her face. She slowly, fixed her appearance and left the room with out a single glance back, leaving Gordo sitting at his desk and fingering the files that Lily had left behind. He mentally set himself a reminder to leave the files at her desk when she made her decision, forcing her to face Mr. Potter.

_Someone had to do it_, he thought wryly, pushing himself up and the guilt away_. I just happened to be the lucky one_, he consoled himself and locking the door behind him, he set out down the hallway of the brightly lit Ministry.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily took off from work on Saturday (claiming sick-leave) and she didn't work on Sundays, as she wasn't a field worker, glad it was the weekend. She'd spent most of her time lying on the couch in front of the fire brooding about the things Gordo had so suddenly placed upon her. She had no one to turn to for an unbiased comfort: Jenna was in Geneva with her boyfriend for the weekend; Gordo was a guy; her family had enough to worry about with out her adding to their troubles; and she had no other people _really_ close to her.

She's sat down, thought about the pros and cons of each decision, and later wrote them down. She clutched the list in her hands and read through it once more.

Pros

_Granted dates for occasions_

_A way to get money for Evelyn and her child_

_A way to meet Daray occasionally_

She hurriedly crossed that out. _No. That wasn't a pro. That wasn't good._ After making it as black as possible, she continued on.

_A way to help her family_

_A way to get rich_

Oh! What _was_ she thinking? She hurriedly scratched it out too. She looked at the next pro only to find that the list had ended. It was now the cons.

Cons

_Maybe living with the werewolves_

She double underlined it.

_James_

She _triple_ underlined that. James was surely the main reason for her not to want to marry him. _Oh! That didn't make any sense_, she groaned. She banged her head on the table, hoping to clear it; but her answer remained foggy… though she now could add a slight headache to her growing list of problems. She groaned even louder and, frustrated, she tore up the slip of paper.

Ten minutes later, her brother found her rewriting the list on the living room table, the door openly inviting guests and the warm Sunday afternoon sun.

"Lily? Why are you making a list of the pros and cons… of marriage?" Steve asked as he looked over her shoulder. She jumped up and hurriedly crumpled and stuffed the paper under the table.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all!" she chirped, over cheerily. He placed a hand on her forehead.

"You're not sick are you?" he asked, concerned.

She swatted away at the hand. "I'm fine, Steve." He gave her a skeptical look but dropped the matter anyway. "You want anything to eat or drink?"

Steve shrugged.

"Just water will do… thanks." She conjured up a glass of water and set it before him, not wanting to leave his sight; for fear that he'd look at the slip if she left him alone.

"So… did you need anything?" Lily asked Steve, eying him oddly. She conjured up another glass and started to sip the water slowly.

He took a sip of water. "Oh, nothing much. Mum woke." She spluttered, spraying water all over the table and her clothes.

"What? _Nothing_ _much_!" she gasped. "Mum woke and you have the nerve to say 'nothing much?' " she shouted at him. He shrugged.

"Just drop it, will you," he sighed, exasperatedly. "She didn't want anyone to make such a big fuss over her."

"So what did she decide about Eve?"

"Why don't you come over?" he asked her, casually.

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, there's something I need to work out. How about for dinner? I'll be here. Tell mom, ok?"

He shrugged. "Ok… Later."

Lily started after him and watched him exit before diving under the table and retrieving the crumpled paper. She smoothed it out and found that the ink had run together leaving it impossible to read. She groaned, frustrated. She glared at the piece of paper. She finally gave up and resigned herself to a book, hoping that the answer would just magically appear.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily pulled on a green halter with a pair of jeans and glanced at herself in the vanity. She then pulled half her hair into a ponytail and left the rest to fall gently upon her shoulders. She added a little eyeliner and, finally satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her wand. After dimming the lights and locking the door, she Apparated to her parents' house.

She'd sensed that she needed to look good that night, so she'd dressed a little more carefully than normal. Lily had long ago learned that she could trust her instincts to lead the way., she felt her heart pound loudly in her chest as she walked up to the porch. She tentatively knocked on the door, thinking that she might phone in an excuse and leave. But, right on cue, the door opened. Petunia's lovely head poked out.

"Oh. It's you." She opened the door further.

Lily raised an eyebrow at the hospitality but, nevertheless, walked in without a comment. She heard Petunia shut the door behind her and hurry away to the kitchen. Lily slowly made her way to the living room, where she found half empty glasses of wine and a couple of bowls of snacks. She looked around the eerily quiet room, but she found nothing amiss.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping that someone other than Petunia was there. Petunia was hardly good company, especially for dinner. She heard a scraping of chairs and, soon enough, her brother Steve entered the room _So that's where 'Tunia went_, Lily thought to herself wryly as she followed Steve into the dining room. _So nice of her to invite me along._

Lily paused to fix her top as her brother went on inside. She found the room to be exceptionally quite- especially for people eating dinner. She cautiously stepped through the doorframe and looked around the room. No one was eating anything, dinner set out before them but not a single spoon touched. She looked around at the blank or angry faces suspiciously until she came across a very, very familiar face. Her eyes widened.

"Daray!" she muttered under her breath. Her eyes proceeded to seek out his blue-green eyes. At finding them unresponsive, she gave it up. As she slowly walked towards the table, one by one they turned to look up at her: her mother, weary and tired, Steve, terribly angry; her father, blankly; Evelyn meekly playing with her food; Petunia spearing the peas on her plate with more force than was necessary; and Daray… He looked up at her with indifference and a certain coldness that made Lily's eyes sting with tears. She looked away, hoping they wouldn't fall down her face. Then Daray spoke.

"So _this_ is your sister?" He directed the question at Evelyn, a hint of amusement hidden in his voice. Evelyn nodded silently.

He turned to look at Lily. "Lily, eh?" he asked her.

She ground her teeth. "It's Evans."

"Apologies, Ms. Evans," he said coolly, for sure not meaning what he said. Lily glared at him. The rest of the family watched the exchange curiously, her brother and sister even letting go of their anger to watch them. He seemed not to notice anything. For his next sentence was, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Lily completely lost it. "You come to _my_ house and you invite _me_ to dinner!" she shrieked. Daray was taken aback.

"Whoa! Sorry!" he cried but Lily had had enough.

"Get out!" she hissed.

"What?"

"Get out! Now!"

"You heard her. Out!" interjected Steve.

Daray refused to move ignoring Steve. "Well, I was invited to dinner-"

"I don't care!" Lily yelled. "I want you out of my house NOW!"

Daray coolly stood up. "Make me," he hissed pulling out a wand. The family seated around the table gasped as they realized that he was a wizard.

Lily too whipped out her wand. "Put it away. You know you can't handle a duel with me. Not even Lupin could." Daray glared at her but jammed the wand back in his pocket and strode out without even a glance back, stopping only to grab Evelyn's arm.

"Where are you taking her?" Steve, the first to notice, asked him.

Daray looked at the young boy with distaste. "Home, boy. Or perhaps you don't know where it is."

Steve glared at him in return. "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. It's my fault that she has to bear this thing so she'll live with me." He pulled her once more.

"Let go, Daray," Lily called, her wand pointing to his back. He spun around. "It's Mr. Willis," he said mockingly, baring his teeth.

"Get out of here. We can take care of Evelyn," Steve said, pulling on her other arm. He looked around the room once more before letting go of her arm.

"Let me see you try." With one last glare at the family he stormed out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind him.

Lily sighed as sank down into a seat beside Evelyn. She put her head in her arms and banged her head against the table as the rest of the family watched.

She finally pulled her head up, eyes filled with determination. "That's it. I'm getting married."


	7. Part 2: LH: Chapter 7: The Marriage

**Title**: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

**Author**: Arista Ramabra

**Rating**: T

**Beta:** LivingDreams

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1. Marriage help by Clare.

* * *

**A/N:** _Sorry for the extremely long delay!_ I give up on getting reviews… that was barely enough to make a satisfactory chapter so I decided to be nice and gave you a long chapter anyway… as an early Christmas present… but the review thing still applies…

This in the beginning of Part 2 of EMM… Living Hell… in this, James and Lily just try to make each other's lives… _living hell_! These range from simple things, such as yelling at each other to some redecoration… Hopefully it's a little more humorous than part 1…

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

**Recap of Chapter 6:** Lily learns about wizarding marriages, visits her parents, finds Daray there, and decides to marry James.

**Chapter 7- **The Marriage

September faded into the showers of October, into the chill of November, to the snows of December. Lily and James had decided that their wedding would be in March, the beginning of spring. One snowy December afternoon, a week before Christmas found Lily and James busy at work writing invitations. After finishing one, Lily looked up at James. She waited for him to complete what he was writing before opening her mouth to speak.

"Potter."

James looked up.

"I need to… talk to you." Lily put down her pen and looked James squarely in the face.

"When we first… met… you told me your views on this marriage. Now it's my turn."

James looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Well you told me your condition, didn't you?"

"Yes." James drew it out in three syllables.

"I think now I have every right to present my own."

"Ok. What do you want?" James inquired.

"Well, first let me ask you this. We're going to live where?"

"You're the one who wanted to rent an apartment," James replied, almost accusingly.

"Yes. Yes I did. I mean… I do; I still do. Its just that… I have a request."  that's cool

"What do you want?"

"Well… I want my sister to live with… well… I need a provider for her and her child and I thought…" Lily trailed off.

"And you want her to stay with us."

"Well… maybe… she just needs someone to be around her… the baby's due in a few months… and…"

"Look here Evans… she's your sister… and this marriage isn't like any other… so do what you want." With that last word said, James grabbed another invitation and continued with what he was doing.

Lily looked at him for a moment. Then her anger came out.

"What's wrong with you? Normal marriage or not don't you care about anything?"

"Dammit Evans what do you want me to say? You want me to speak shit like 'Aww honey, that is a wonderful idea! She can live with us and I'll pay for her hospital bills and delivery!'? Is that what you want me to say?"

"No I don't Potter. I just wish you'd somehow I can make you understand that marriage isn't some game!"

"Of course it's not! Do u think it's going to be all fun, living with you? You're such a pain to put up with. Jeez Woman! Who do you think you are?"

"Go ahead! Insult me all you want. But you know what Potter, someday, this arrangement of ours… it's going to come back and bite you in the ass. Then let's see who's in pain!" Lily threw down her quill and stormed out of the room.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

James went home that night with a terrible head ache. He shuffled into to his bathroom and quickly stripped. Then he turned the hot water on full blast and stepped into the steaming shower. God it felt good to have the boiling liquid run down his skin while he scrubbed himself. He stood there until the water began to cool, then he turned the cold water on and stood there for a few minutes before stepping out. He wrapped a towel around him waist before leaving the bathroom, feeling completely refreshed.

"He stood there until the water began to cool; then he turned the cold water on. He stood there for a few minutes before stepping out. He wrapped a towel around him waist before leaving the bathroom, feeling completely refreshed."

When he opened the door to his room he found Lor sprawled on his bed, thumbing through a magazine.

"Hey," he called out, while walking to his closet on the other end of his room.

Lor looked up. "Hey," she said, mirroring his casual tone.

"Anything up? How's your job search going?"

"Fine… fine…" she turned a couple of pages. "How are things with Lily?"

"They're… fine as can be with her I guess… Why the sudden interest in her?" he inquired, pulling a shirt over his head.

"Oh ya well… you know… just… wondering what's up in your life…" she tried to make sound impassive, but James saw right through it.

After pulling on some pants, he threw the towel on the floor with the rest of his laundry. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

"Hey… I'm not marrying her because I want to. She's difficult and rude and I cant see myself with her for even a short time. But a promise is a promise. I promised my dad and I have to go through with it."

"What the hell James… you don't like her… you shouldn't have to marry her. In any case, no one's making you."

"Well, she doesn't matter, but Ron does. I care about him and apparently he cares about Evans. So Evans it is."

Lor was amazed at the lighthearted manner that James spoke in of the subject that he most detested. And if he didn't give her a chance then she would make sure that no one else got a chance with him either. Sure the chances of him staying with her after the year were really slim, but there _was_ still a small possibility. But that risk wasn't one that she was willing to take.

"But James, you totally detest marriage! Every time me or Ron brought it up, you always brushed us off or yelled at us about how you don't like the commitment factor. But now… I don't know what's wrong with you!" She paused for a moment. "So you're telling me that if I tell you that if you don't marry me I'll kill myself, you'll do it?"

James paused in his action of putting on shoes. Shocked, he was at a loss for words, for a moment, just a moment. However, being the smooth talker he was, he went on. Laughing lightly, a little hesitantly, he said, "Lor, you're being delusional. I have to go now. We'll talk about this later ok?"

He grabbed his coat and left. But Lor had seen that one moment of hesitation.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Soon enough, the day of the marriage dawned on them, bright and early. The day was perfect for a wedding. It was very clear and sunny, the bright blue sky visible for miles. On a whim, the two families had decided that they'd rather have a wedding outdoors rather than inside the church as the day was beautiful.

Soon everything was all set up, the decorations all in place, the chairs set out, and the food arranged neatly on tables in the back. People were already starting to gather and there was the light buzz of people chatting in the background.

Lily, meanwhile, was sitting at her dressing table, gazing at her reflection in the mirror, twirling an unfastened strand of auburn hair on her finger. Her hair was done up except for a few strands left loose to hang around her face. She'd decided that she no longer liked the dress that she'd loved just that morning. Within the past few minutes, she'd discoveredquite a few things wrong with the satin, peach colored dress: the cleavage was too deep, the skirt was too puffy, the waist pinched too thin, there were too many ruffles, and she felt that it made her look fat.

When Jenna came in, she was already done with analyzing the dress and had moved on to her hair and make-up. Jenna took one look at her friend's worried face and sighed. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Lily.

"Talk" she said, quite bluntly.

Lily looked at her, blankly. "About what? What's there to say?"

"You look worried."

"I'm not worried. There's nothing to be worried about."

"Yes there is, Lily. You're about to get married and the groom isn't someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with."

"Yeah, well that's not going to happen even if I wanted it."

Jenna quickly realized the mistake she'd made.

"Oh My Gosh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Doesn't matter if you meant it or not…"

"Lily what's your problem? You're acting like a bitch! And if I ask you what's wrong, you won't talk either! How can I help you if you don't tell me what's wrong?"

"You want to know what's wrong? Everything's wrong! I'm marrying a guy that doesn't even want to stand within two feet of me, let alone marry me! This dress is crap, there are a million things wrong with it! The-"

"Lily, I'm sorry sweetie. Look, James is not the perfect guy for you, but its going to help Evelyn and isn't that what you want? This marriage is not for you or James- its for Evelyn, which is why you must go though with it."

"But that doesn't make it any less hard to accept."

"I know Lily. But you're strong. You'll live through this."

"I hope no woman ever has to go through this," Lily sighed wistfully. "This is terrible, really it is."

Jenna patted Lily on the shoulder. "I'm sorry honey. I really-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the door opened and James stepped in.

He ignored Jenna completely, addressing only Lily. "Uhm… I know it's not customary for the groom to see the bride before the wedding but… can I speak with you alone?"

Lily shrugged , expressionlessly, nodding to Jenna. Jenna left the room, enclosing Lily in a tight hug and kissing her cheek lightly. When she was gone, James took her chair and pulled it opposite Lily's.

"I uh… don't know how to say this but… I was wondering if you'd sign this." He pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, placing it on the dressing table.

"What is it?" Lily inquired, dryly.

"It's umm… a form that I conjoured. It is the official document that says that you agree that we won't be married after one year. It reads: 'This document provides the official proof that James Michael Potter and Lilliana Marie Evans will no longer be wed on this day, 1979. This document requires the signature of the following parties involved: Ms. Lilliana Marie Evans, James Michael Potter, the priest who intends to see this wedding through, and one family member of the parties concerned. This seals the promise that there will be no objections raised at the annulation of this marriage a year forward, dated May 19, 1978.' There is a space for all of our signatures, I have already gotten mine and Ron's on here along with the priest's. We just need yours and someone from your family to sign this."

At Lily's blank demeanor, he offered an explanation.

"It is just to insure that no objection comes up at the time of the divorce a year from now. Just to be on the safer side. So if you don't mind could you and someone from your family please sign this?"

Lily minded. She minded a lot. And she didn't want to involve her family into this. This was between James and herself. They had no business involving outsiders, even if it was their families. She wanted to be a feminist, and yell at him about this arrangement of theirs. She wanted to slap him, beat into his head the meaning of equality, teach him how to respect women. She wanted to refuse the document and scream her head off, saying that she wouldn not sign this trash.

But she did none of those things. While her heart and mind shrieked in agony, she picked up the quill, scratched her signature onto the parchment, her hands shaking.

Handing it back to James, she told him to find Steve and get it signed by him. He thanked her in response, and left, shutting the door softly behind him.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Sirius sat in the first row in the church, watching Best Man Remus stand up there with his best friend. Though a little jealous, he was the one that had volunteered Remus in the first place. He wished he was there, making James laugh instead of Remus. Originally he was going to be the cameraman, a talent he had acquired while spending a summer in muggle London during his time at Hogwarts. Lily however had felt that he might do something inappropriate; she forbade him from bring a camera into the church.

Sirius watched most of the wedding in silence, observing the people as they one by one walked to the altar. Sirius was bored for most of the wedding, until Lily came in, looking as gorgeous as a new bloomed rose. He leaned forward for a better view as she came in to sight. She walked down the aisle in her long white gown. He rose with the crowd and held his breath as she glided past her smoothly and up to the altar.

Sirius listened to the priest half-heartedly, hoping that the wedding would end soon so that he could eat and drink. He loved weddings.

"I love weddings," Sirius told Ron, who sat beside him. "Drinks all around!"

Ron looked at him slightly reproachfully. "Try to keep count of how many drinks you have."

Sirius chuckled lightly, turing back to the altar. The priest was still droning on and on. Sirius noticed that there were small interactions between James and Lily. That caught his full attention. Finally entertained by something, he stared fixedly at the pair.

James was winking at some of the ladies that he saw in the church. Lily, irritated, glared at him, stepping on his foot. Not wanting to appear clumsy to the people around him, he grimaced painfully, an awkward look on his face.

"Do you, James, take Lily to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the priest asked him.

"N- Ye- yes," he answered, wishing he could say no. "I do."

"Do you, Lily, take James to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," she said with firm resolution, digging her heel into James' toes.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

No one moved. Lily took her foot off of James' and James forgot his pain for a minute.

"What?" he demanded of the priest, slowly.

"You- you may kiss the bride," the priest replied hesitantly, looking around for some clue as to what might be going on.

When James seemed to be drawing a blank, Sirius decided to help out.

"It's when you put your lips like this…" He demonstrated. "And you have the other person fo the same and you make them meet."

"Shut up! I know what a kiss is!" James retorted.

"Well then do it!" Then after a slight pause. "If you don't want to kiss her I will!"

"Sirius!"

"Alright alright, just get on with it… Then we can go and get rum!"

James glared at him, turning back to Lily.

"Well then… I suppose you could kiss me." He puckered his lips, closed his eyes and waited. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes again.

"What is wrong with you? Just kiss me and be done with it!" he hissed under his breath.

"Why cant _you_ kiss me?"

"What?"

"You think you're so good that _I_ need to kiss you and u wont make any move-"

"I never said that!"

"Well you implied it!"

While they went on, their voices getting louder by the minute, Remus looked around, and walked to the edge of the altar, where he sat down. The old priest, astounded by this behavior, followed his example and sat down beside Remus.

"They'll be a while," Remus offered by way of explanation.

"Ah…"

After listening to them yell for 10 minutes, Remus stood up. He walked to the middle of the altar and yelled "STOP!"

The entire hall fell silent.

"James, lean forward." He complied. "Lilly lean forward. Good. Now touch your lips together."

"Good, good. Just like that."

The minute their lips touched, they pulled apart, jumping back, and wiping their lips.

Remus rolled his eyes at them, while Sirius, joyfully jumped up.

"Finally! The RUM!"


End file.
